Background: Urinary tract infections are commonly encountered and often treated with antibiotics. However, the inappropriate use of the latter has led to the appearance of resistant strains. In this context we investigate the use of calorimetry to rapidly determine if a phage cocktail can be used as alternative to antibiotics. Methods: We used a commercially available phage cocktail from an online pharmacy and tested it against a strain of Escherichia coli and a strain of Proteus mirabilis. We used isothermal microcalorimetry to follow the metabolic activity of the bacterial culture treated with the phage cocktail. Results: Isothermal microcalorimetry was able to follow the dynamic of the bacterial metabolic activity reduction by the phage cocktail. Both pathogens were strongly inhibited; however, some regrowth was observed for E. coli in urine. Conclusions: Isothermal microcalorimetry proved to be a valuable technique when investigating the efficacy of phage cocktails against uropathogens. We foresee that isothermal microcalorimetry could be used to obtain rapid phagograms.

Background: Gonorrhea is a frequently encountered sexually transmitted disease that results in urethritis and can further lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and possibly disseminated gonococcal infections. Thus, it must be diagnosed promptly and accurately. In addition, drug susceptibility testing should be performed rapidly as well. Unfortunately, Neisseria gonorrhoea is a fastidious microorganism that is difficult to grow and requires culturing in an opaque medium. Methods: Here, we used isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) to monitor the growth and the antimicrobial susceptibility of N. gonorrhoea. Results: Using IMC, concentrations of N. gonorrhoea between 2000 and 1 CFU·mL−1 were detected within 12 to 33 h. In addition, drug susceptibility could be monitored easily. Conclusions: The use of isothermal microcalorimetry provides an interesting and useful tool to detect and characterize fastidious microbes such as N. gonorrhoea that require media incompatible with optical detection conventionally used in many commercial systems.